Scuttle and ladder combination



June 24, 1958 J. J. MURRAY SCUTTLE AND LADDER COMBINATION 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Sept. 14, 1955 INVE N TOR JOHN J MURRAY 81/ ATTORNEY I al June 24, 1958 J. J; MURRAY SCUTTLE AND LADDER COMBINATION Filed Sept. 14, 1955 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 lNl/EN TOR JOHN J MURRAY BY 7% 5. ATTORNEY 2,840,289 SCUTTLE AND LADDER commutes John Joseph Murray, Short Hills, N. J. Application September 14, 1953, Serial No. 379,342 3 Claims. (Cl. 228-42) This invention relates to entranceway's for houses and other structures and more specifically to apparatus for operating closure members associated with the entranceways and for gaining access thereto. Inone of itsmore important aspects, the invention relates to scuttles and to stairways associated therewith. It will be apparent, however, from the description and claims which follow that the invention is not limited in all of its aspects to scuttles and the like.

In many houses and other buildings, access to a roof or attic is obtained by means of a scuttle. Frequently there is no appropriate place for a permanent stairway leading to the scuttle opening as the latter may be above a hallway or in a closet or in the middle of the ceiling of a room.

It is an object of the present invention to provide convenient access means to entranceways of houses and other structures and particularly to scuttles and similar horizontal plane openings.

It is another object of the invention to correlate the opening of the closure member for such an entranceway with the movement into the working position of the means for gaining access to said entranceway.

The above and related objects are attained in accordance with the invention by providing, in an illustrative embodiment, a flexible ladder in close association with the opening of a scuttle or similar structure. A push button below the opening actuates a motor which moves the ladder from its stored position to its working position and simultaneously releases a catch holding the spring loaded or counterweighted scuttle lid or top closed, thus allowing the top to spring open. When it is desired to close the scuttle, the lid is lowered to its closed position and by means of another push button the motor is operated in the reverse direction to return the ladder to its stored position. In the description that follows, the flexible ladder isa rope ladder roller and unrolled from a reel located under the scuttle opening but it will be readily apparent that the invention is equally applicable to any other ladder or other access member which can be stored in a smaller vertical space than it occupies in its working position.

The invention will be more readily understood by referring to the following. description forming a part thereof, in which:

Fig. 1 is a front view, with portions broken away, of a scuttle and ladder combination in accordance with the invention;

Fig. 2 is a sectional elevation view of the arrangement of Fig. 1; and

Fig. 3 is a schematic circuit diagram of the operating members of the easily reached" scuttle of Figs. 1 and 2.

Referring more specifically to the drawings, Figsll and 2 show, by way of example and'for purposes of illustration, a scuttle and ladder combination in accord-v ance with the invention. The combination 10 comprises a scuttle 11,- having an upright frame 12 and a door or lid 13, a flexible ladder 14, a reel 15 for rolling up the ladder 14, a reversible electric motor 16, and means to be 2 described below for synchronizing the opening of the door 13 and the unwinding of the ladder 14.

The door 13 is pivoted about point 17 by means of first levers 18 and second levers 19 connected respectively between the first levers and the frame of the member 13.

The door is biased to the raised position shown in Figs. 1 and 2 by means of springs 20. If desired, counterw'eights (not shown) can be used instead of, or in addition to, the springs 20 to provide means for biasing open the door 13.

Inside the door is a plunger 21 which is actuated by a soIenoid 22 surrounding it. When no current is flowing in'the solenoid, theplunger 21 is pushed into'an opening 23 in the frame 12 by a spring 24 to hold the door closed. The door can be lowered to its closed position by standing on an upper rung of the ladder 14 and pulling on the I handle 25 attached to thedoor or by the motor used for lowering the ladder (by means not shown).

The reel 15 is provided with a control rod or shaft 26 and two and members 27 and 28. The ladder 14, which comprises two side ropes 29 and 30 of wire or cord and a plurality of spaced rungs 31 of wood, metal or'plastic, has its upper end attached to the central rod 26. When the reel 15 is turned, the ropes 29 and 30 coil up on each other Within the space between the end members 27 and 28. The rod 26 is mounted between bearings 32 and 33 which are held within a support 34 adjacent the upright frame 12. A gear 35 on shaft 26 meshes with a gear 36 on the shaft of motor 16 which is provided, by way of example, with two windings so that it can be driven in either of two directions.

Reference will now be made to Fig. 3 which shows a schematic circuit diagram for operating the motor 16 and the solenoid plunger 21 from a push-button panel 37 preferably located on a wall below the opening formed by the frame 12, as indicated in Fig. 1. The panel 37 has two push-buttons A and B. The button A is pushed when it is desired to unroll the ladder 14 and simultaneously operate the plunger 21 to open the trap door 13. Operation of the button B will cause the ladder 14 to be rolled up on the reel 15 again.

Power from a suitable source having lines L1 and L2 is used to drive the motor and operate the plunger 21. Line L1 is connected through the lowercontact 38 of push button A and the winding of motor 16 connected between terminals 39 to the line L2. Line L1 is also connected through upper contacts 40 of push button A and solenoid winding 22 to line L2. Closing contacts 38 and 40 by pushing down the button A will operatethe plunger 21 toward the left in Fig. 3 to release the catch and permit the door 13 to spring upward because of the action of springs 20 and, at the same time, will actuate the winding between terminals 39 of motor 16 to cause the ladder 14 to be lowered. As soon as the ladder is unrolled sufiiciently, the operator removes his finger from push-button A and the motor 16 stops.

The contacts 41 of push button B are connected in series with the power source and the second winding of the motor 16 which is connected between terminals 42 thereof. This button is operated after the door 13 has been closed (the spring 24 pushes the plunger 21 into the opening 23 and thus locks the door) to cause the motor to operate in the reverse direction to roll up the ladder on the reel again. This button is held down until the ladder is fully wound on the reel again.

While a covering for the reel 15 and the motor 16 has not been shown for simplicity in the drawings, it is obvious that these members will in many cases be enclosed. Moreover, electric timers can be used if desired to time automatically the rolling and unrolling periods. While a rope ladder has been shown by way of example, it is obviously within the scope of this invention to provide folding or other forms of disappearing ladders to be operated sirnultane ously witli'the opening of the door 13. Furthermore, the electricmotor, by means of chains, cams, gears or other devices'can be used to close the lid or .door at, the same time that the ladder is rolled up.

' It'is obvious that many changes other than thosespeci fically mentioned can bemadefin the embodimentfdescribed abo've without departing from the spirit of the inv'entionithe scope of which is indicated by the claims. I

What is claimedis: V a

1; In Combination, alrectangular scuttle frame, an upwardly opening closure member "for said frame means for pivoting said closure member, around one edge of said frarne, means for holding said closure member closed against the action of a spring, means for releasing said holding means, a flexible ladder'for gaining "access to said scuttle from a position below it, motor means for rolling up said ladder and for unrolling it, and means controlledby a push button for simultaneously releasing said'holding means to allow said closure member to spring open and for starting the unrolling of said ladder.

2. In combination, a rectangular scuttle frame, an upwardlylopening cover for said frame, means for pivoting said cover around one edge of said frame, a plunger for holding said cover closed against the action of a spring, a solenoid for actuating said plunger in a direction to release the cover, a flexible ladder for gaining access to said scuttle from 'a position below it, motor means for rolling up said ladder and for unrolling it, and means controlled by a push button for simultaneously actuating said solenoid to release. the cover and for starting the unrolling of said ladder.

3. Thecombination as claimed in claim 2 in further combination with spring'means to cause the cover to open when it is released by the action of said solenoid.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 277,376 Stuckey May 8, 1883 314,287 Fiegenbaum Mar. 24, 1885 320,474 Ingersoll June 23, 1885 365,230 Belches June 21, 1887 641,512 Holden Jan. 16, 1900 1,026,285 Stephan May 14, 1912 1,811,820 Bessler -2 June 23, 1931 

